Heart breakthrough
October 31, 2011
A GROUP of Australian scientists
have created a way of reliably
producing heart cells in a laboratory
setting, a feat which unfurls untold
potential for drug development.
Published this week in Nature
Methods, the Monash University
led team were able to isolate human
heart cells produced from embryonic
stem cells by turning them green.
“We linked a green fluorescent
marker - originally from a jelly-fish -
to a gene found in heart cells,
causing them to glow,” said head
researcher Dr David Elliott.
“Using this cell line we have
discovered two new cell surface
proteins that we can use as
‘handles’ to allow us to grab only
the cardiac cells from cultures
containing different cell types.
“Importantly, we can use these
handles to isolate and study cardiac
cells grown from the stem cells of
heart disease patients, and, in this
way model heart disease in a dish,”
he added.
The research is particularly
important because up until now
the development of heart disease
drugs has been held back by a lack
of a dependable supply of heart
cells for experimentation.
“We are now starting to make
significant steps in the search for
stem cell based therapies for heart
disease and our findings will drive
further research,” said researcher
Professor Andrew Elefanty.
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